Michael Gow (born 1955) is an Australian playwright and director most famed for his 1986 work Away, a story of three Australian families who go on holiday "up the coast" for Christmas 1968 as a remedy to personal crises, whose story threads eventually interconnect. The families cross the class and social divides: one is in a smart hotel, another is at the local caravan park; another is in the throes of possible divorce. These factors are woven into a story of love and loss that allows a young boy and girl to taste first love and the pain of untimely death while their parents cope, more or less, with the consequences. It remains a landmark of Australian contemporary drama and the best of Gow's earlier work. Europe is also an intriguing work as a young man and a European actress of uncertain age meet in her dressing room. Gow had not written a full length play for ten years while fully engaged as artistic director of QTC – Queensand Theatre Company – then produced Toy Symphony in 2007, which received its world premiere production at Belvoir St Theatre. It was a critical and popular success, starring Richard Roxburgh in his first stage role for some years. Toy Symphony is a further exploration of Gow's Shire roots and much else besides. The production won four Sydney Theatre Awards: Best Mainstage Production, Best Director (Neil Armfield), Best Actor (Richard Roxburgh) and Best Supporting Actress (Monica Maughan).

Works

• The Kid (1983)
• The Astronaut’s Wife (1985)
• Away (1986)
• 17 (N/A)
• On Top Of The World (1987)
• Europe (1987)
• 1841 (1988)
• All Stops Out (1989)
• Furious (1994)
• Sweet Phoebe (1994)
• Live Acts On Stage (1996)
• Up Here (2004)
• The Fortunes of Richard Mahony, adapted from the novel by Henry Handel Richardson (2004)
• Toy Symphony (2007)

References

• Brisbane Writers Festival - Michael Gow
• Internet Movie Database - Michael Gow